[Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you [Music] when Caligula became emperor there were celebrations in Rome it was seen as a new golden age After the Dark years of Emperor Tiberius but Caligula would lead a life of debauchery and brutally murder for fun he reveled in killing his victims slowly and painfully over days Caligula forced families to attend their children's executions sadism horrified and Empire his whole aim in life as Emperor was to explore the extreme limits of what he could do he seems to have found the exercise of power very intoxicating and the desire to oppress other people are very tempting Caligula was born in 12 A.D the third son of a celebrated Commander from the most powerful family in the Roman Empire his real name Gaius Julius Caesar emphasized his Imperial lineage Caligula's father germanicus was a war hero posted on the Empire's Northern Frontier [Music] his mother was the granddaughter of Emperor Augustus she was outspoken proud and ambitious to Curry favor with the Army agropina addressed her son in miniature military uniform the troops who Nick who Nick Caligula meaning lit the child grew up amid jealousy and infighting in a family torn apart by rivalry Germanic as his faith was a threat to his stepfather the ruling Emperor Tiberius agrifiners and germanicus are really a very dramatic charismatic pair whom Tiberius finds very difficult to handle because he is by nature a rather introverted self-conscious inhibited kind of person in May 17 A.D germanicus was recalled from Germany it was a glorious return to Rome surrounded by prisoners and War booty germanicus led a triumphant procession riding in his Chariot the boy Caligula lapped up the adulation but the family had little time to enjoy their Glory two years later germanicus was dead his painful death had all the symptoms of poisoning rumors circulated that Emperor Tiberius was responsible egged on by Massive public grief agropina blamed Tiberius for her husband's murder agrippina was extraordinarily hot-headed and even on his deathbed germanicus is said to have warned her against letting go in front of people who would take it amiss and use it against her agropina's hostility sealed her fate the young Caligula watched as Tiberius turned on his family one by one his mother and two older brothers were arrested they were condemned as enemies of the state and forced to commit suicide agropina starved herself to death but Caligula was spared after his mother's arrest he lived with his grandmother and great-grandmother powerful Roman matrons and at the age of 19 he was summoned unexpectedly to Capri to join Emperor Tiberius Tiberius invited Caligula when the Moment of Truth struck him about the succession that all of the children of germanicus were being picked off one by one and if he did this he would be betraying all the plans of Augustus for the succession now in his 70s Tiberius was hated in Rome and in the Senate his Reign had been overshadowed by a series of treason trials a method of eliminating Rivals who spoke against the emperor leaving Rome behind Tiberius had retired to Capri far from public scrutiny the island had grown notorious for debauchery and cruelty for six years Caligula lived here forced to pay his respects to the man he held responsible for his family's deaths played the perfect guest this was a young man who'd seen his brothers go and who'd learned of all the dangers of talking out of turn he had to contain his feelings and learn to present her a polite and subservient front on any occasion the strain of keeping up the pretends all the time must have been absolutely appalling but I don't think it's any sign of irrationality or paranoia on his part I think he was simply responding rationally to an appalling situation his whole family was a dysfunctional family Caligula suppressed his thirst for vengeance but according to his biographer suertonius he found plenty to vent his frustration on yet even at that time he was not able to control his Savage and reprehensible nature indeed he showed the keenest interest in witnessing the sufferings and torments of those condemned to be tortured Caligula made the most of his time on Capri creating key alliances he married Junior Claudia daughter of a distinguished senator but his most important Ally was macro head of the praetorian guard and a veteran of violence as tiberius's right-hand man macro had organized the notorious trials and executions of The Emperor's reign the partnership was so strong that macro allowed Caligula to sleep with his wife Tiberius watched the alliance in horror fearful for the future of his own grandson Jim Ellis but his hands were tied as the son of germanicus Caligula already had the people's support with macro behind him he had the Army too reluctantly Tiberius named his joint successors Caligula and jamelis were to rule together it would never happen Tiberius died in March 37. Guided by macro the Senate threw out his will on the grounds of insanity they handed sole control of the Empire to Caligula the new emperor was just 24 years old insecure and highly strung he was tall and spindly with sunken eyes and thinning hair later in his Reign he was to order men with thicker hair to shave their heads for now Rome was elated crowds that greeted him were quite extraordinary and he was greeted in the same way by the Senate everything went absolutely smoothly they were falling over themselves to welcome him since the days of Augustus the Roman Emperor was first among equals in their enthusiasm the Senate handed Caligula absolute power Caligula found himself as the leader of the Roman world and as a man with power of Life over the death over all of his subjects and perhaps what makes him different from his predecessors Augustus and Tiberius is that here we have the naked display of an autocrat Caligula and macro capitalized on the mood of Celebration the praetorian guard were handed a cash bonus the Roman people were treated to theater and games the Senate were reassured that tiberius's hated trees and trials would stop and to their relief Caligula publicly destroyed papers listing his family's accusers he promised there would be no prosecutions no one knew there were copies the first six months of Caligula's Reign were a period of euphoria they came at a price in just 12 months Caligula ran through 2.7 billion cysters enough to pay the Army for eight years but the golden days of fun had taken a greater toll on his health before the summer was over he suffered a physical and mental breakdown Caligula's condition sent shock waves through Rome desperate for his recovery one high-ranking Roman offered to fight Gladiators if the emperor survived Caligula did but he was a changed man for the rest of his life Caligula suffered headaches and sleepless nights pacing his Palace till daylight but it was Rome that suffered most Caligula demanded a terrifying show of loyalty the man who had promised he would fight as a gladiator he obliged to fulfill his vow looking on as he struggled in combat and not letting him off until he had won his fight and pleaded repeatedly for delivery when he was at death's door he would have come to realize that he was not indispensable and when he began to recover he would have realized that people were taking uh measures that would cover the situation in case he didn't get better in other words he saw people preparing for the after Caligula situation and this was intolerable to him Caligula lashed out at close relatives and friends as he regained his strength Jim Ellis tiberius's grandson was accused of hoping for the emperor's death the 18 year old was shown how to kill himself Caligula turned on his father-in-law selenus the old man was accused of treason even macra fell foul of The Emperor's anger and mistrust Caligula had grown resentful of his mentor's advice he charged macro with prostituting his wife both committed suicide Enya had been Caligula's mistress now macro had gone no one would hold Caligula back [Music] Caligula had been handed the reins of power he had removed immediate threats to his position and thrown himself into an orgy of pleasure he spent vast amounts on Sports and games Caligula came to believe that he could use his power to indulge his own pleasures and his own whims and that he could do anything to anybody he didn't realize that if you want to stay in power you actually have to control your emotions and your desires Caligula built his own racing track who poisoned his Rivals horses he joked he would appoint his favorite horse to the Senate since it was as clever as any senator this was an intelligent man and a witty one very well able to deal with words uh the story is about him oh sometimes quite amusing if they didn't have victims Caligula also had a passion for gladiators he ordered more bloodthirsty spectacles and to the horror of the Senate he even joined in killing a gladiator in a mock fight once when he and a murmillo from the gladiatorial school had been having a fight with wooden swords and the latter deliberately fell to the ground he ran the man through with a real dagger here into his Reign Caligula was showing a Mania for self-indulgence guests to his dinner parties were presented with food made of gold while the emperor drank pearls dissolved in vinegar his sexual appetite has gained lasting notoriety Caligula demanded sex from prisoners senators and members of his family he habitually indulged in incestuous relations with all his sisters and at a crowded banquet he would make them take turns in lying beneath him while his wife lay above when Drusilla his favorite sister died in 38 A.D Caligula declared her a goddess he placed her statue in the temple of Venus goddess of love Caligula was obsessed by women he could not have we don't know whether it was really particularly highly sex but what we do know is that he liked summoning women away from their husbands debauching them and then returning them this is clearly a power thing after his first wife died in childbirth Caligula snatched his second wife at her wedding to another man he divorced her within weeks his third wife was married too the emperor forced her husband to give her away but in his fourth wife kaisonia Caligula found his soul mate she was promiscuous and extravagant parading her naked in front of his friend [Music] even she was not when Caligula kissed her neck he told her he could cut it whenever he wanted foreign she bore him his only child Drusilla named after his sister [Music] less than two years after his ecstatic reception the emperor's Behavior was causing alarm in the Senate by early ad 39 there were stirrings of resistance Caligula's response was to unleash Terror marching into the Senate he branded them Hypocrites who turned against Tiberius and would turn against him now he revealed he'd kept copies of lists of his family's enemies despite his promise there was Panic as he accused everyone of involvement in his family's deaths Caligula has asked you towards the Senate was one of complete contempt now the gloves are completely off the facade of a Roman Emperor who takes advice and listens to his Senate as well and truly over terrified the Senate agreed to a resumption of the treason trials it's a stage in his deterioration a very very mouth stage and I think a fatal one because you couldn't do without the Senate you might kill X number of Senators and his successor killed a number of Senators too but you can't do without the sermon as a whole and he alienated them Caligula's Purge was indiscriminate throughout his Reign the emperor took a keen interest in inflicting death he issued precise instructions prisoners should be killed Slowly by a series of small cuts executioners were told victims must feel their deaths Caligula's evil shows in his desire to make people suffer we're told that he was torturing a man for so long that his brains began to putrify and to smell another victim claimed he was innocent the execution was stopped Caligula ordered soldiers to cut out his tongue then they killed him the emperor was often present even dining during the ordeal he also insisted the victim's families join him [Music] one father pleaded that he was too ill to attend Caligula sent a litter to his house to collect him as Caligula indulged his sadism to the hilt members of the Senate even found themselves ordered into the gladiator's ring the arena was the perfect place for Caligula to humiliate his Senate because all of the citizen body would be there watching and being watched Caligula was very much a sadist he enjoyed at the lightest teasing people and at the worst actually torturing them and this is a society which itself is extremely statistic a society which loved gladiatorius's wild beast hunts the massacre of prisoners and yet they were shocked by this man's behavior partly I suppose because he was exercising his sadism on his fellow citizens but it was itself it's the Ingenuity of it was shocking to them as Caligula's abuse of the Senate continued shock turned to public unrest Furious he ordered the awnings of the theater drawn back to punish The Angry Crowd they roasted in the midday Sun as opposition escalated so did the violence even close relatives came under attack claiming to have uncovered a conspiracy Caligula exiled his surviving sisters and had his brother-in-law put to death in the first three years Caligula's impact was confined to Rome by late 39 A.D he had raised his sights Caligula needed military success he'd been brought up in the camp but he'd never seen an army and one of the most important functions of a Roman Emperor was to be a general that's what the word Emperor ultimately means and he had to live up to that unlike his father germanicus Caligula was no Soldier but he believed he could exceed Germanic as his reputation and extend the empire into Britain Caligula marched in Comfort accompanied by his troops and gladiators crossing the German border early in 40 A.D after minor skirmishes he fled in panic from an enemy attack now he switched his attention to Britain what happened next defies military logic on reaching the English Channel Caligula set out to sea but as his biographer Dio reports he promptly returned to shore he took his seat on a lofty platform and gave the soldiers the signal as if for battle bidding the trumpeters urged them on then all of a sudden he ordered them to gather up the shells Caligula's Elite forces picked up shells in their helmet they were sent back to Rome for display as The Spoils of victory over the ocean his behavior remains a mystery certainly his dreams of Conquest had come to nothing on returning to Rome he tested the Senate's loyalty to the utmost demanding they treat him as a god earlier Emperors had been worshiped after death Caligula was not prepared to wait playing with the idea of being a God does seem to show a childlike idea of having everything now and everything before he's ever earned it he ordered a temple to be built to himself in the heart of Rome wealthy Nobles including his uncle Claudius were forced to pay vast sums to join by now Caligula's irrational demands were threatening the stability of his Empire when he ordered his own statue to be placed in the temple of Jerusalem there was outrage in the Jewish population it was the ultimate insult to the Jewish god fearing major riots the local Governor stalled risking his own life but before the statue was finished the emperor was dead Caligula had received dramatic proof that he was not divine as he returned from the theater on the 24th of January 41 A.D Caligula was stabbed to death the Assassins included members of his family and the praetorian guard assigned to protect him Caligula was killed because there was no other way to get rid of him and no apparent end to the evils he was prepared to perpetrate there was a ancient theory that if a man was evil enough his soul was so corrupt the only way you could cure him was to kill him the corpse was left with more than 30 wounds his wife kaisonia was hunted down and stabbed Drusilla their two-year-old daughter was beaten to death against a wall Raymond well thought that it was relieved of a monster uh the horror of what he'd done between the year he came to power and the moment of his assassination was astounding convinced he too was on The Hit List Caligula's Uncle Claudius was found shaking behind a curtain to his amazement he was marched to the praetorian camp and acclaimed his emperor once again there was rejoicing in the Senate and Caligula's statues were torn down everything was done to obliterate his memory and his success accordions actually referred to him as being out of his mind I don't think that Caligula was out of his mind at all this was a young man who was absolutely determined to use every freedom he had Caligula had reigned for just three years and 11 months [Music] [Applause]